President Donald Trump has not yet addressed the future of U.S. travel relations with Cuba, freeing up new developments, at least for now. In fact, today, Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that it is expanding its departures to Cuba through December 2017. In the meantime, others are still testing the waters themselves.
As for Norwegian, the company is taking its five previously announced sailings aboard the Norwegian Sky in May and tacking on an extra 25 beginning in June. The four-day voyages are roundtrip from Miami, Florida featuring an overnight stay in Havana aboard the largest cruise ship set to sail Americans to the island nation. The line will offer an extensive 15 half- and full-day OFAC-compliant tours ashore.
Besides, the capital city, the cruises will also call on Norwegian's own private island of Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas.
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"We are thrilled to be the first cruise line able to offer weekly sailings from Miami to Cuba through the fall of 2017, all with overnights in the beautiful city of Havana," said Andy Stuart, president and chief executive officer for Norwegian Cruise Line in a press release. "We have seen great demand from our guests for sailings to Cuba and we look forward to providing more opportunities for them to experience this incredibly culture-rich destination on a weekly basis."
As a corporation, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Limited is also sending its Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands to Cuba but only on three dates on Marina in March 2017 and two on Seven Seas Mariner in April respectively. The weekly frequency of Norwegian's departures will be more akin to what Fathom has been offering every other week but will stop beyond May when its approval expires.
Meanwhile, Carnival Corporation has not yet secured passage to Cuba for any of its other brands beyond.
Among other mainstream companies, Royal Caribbean International has also upped its number of Cuba cruises, initially only three, by expanding that total to 31 on its Empress of the Seas through November 4, 2017. Corporate cousin Azamara Club Cruises will also head for Cuba but only on a single sailing on March 21, 2017.
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According to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc., Richard D. Fain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., referred to the originally scheduled April and May sailings to Cuba as a "trivial part of [its] business." Of course, only three sailings would have been, but now with closer to three dozen in the pipeline, the company has a longer term strategy matched only by Norwegian and smaller operator Pearl Seas Cruises to a lesser degree, at least as far as convenient roundtrip sailings from the U.S. are considered. Others, like Celestyal Crystal, sail American travelers intra-island.
Pearl Seas Cruises has intended to embark for Cuba since 2015 and recently got approval to do so beginning in January of this year. It only has eleven departures currently scheduled for 2017, but they are the most extensive calling on seven Cuban destinations.
With Norwegian and Royal Caribbean receiving extended permission to sail to Cuba through the end of 2017, it stands to reason that Carnival Corporation is not far behind to get a renewal for one of its other brands after Fathom.
As to which brand that will be, we can only speculate, but it would seem destination-centric Holland America Line and one of its smaller ships would be a likely candidate if not Princess Cruises and its Pacific Princess, former Renaissance Cruises sister-ship to Fathom's Adonia.
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